Verification at a Glance

In Results-Based Financing (RBF) schemes, verification is an essential element of program implementation and to date different schemes have adopted different approaches to verification. For some, verification has been limited to ensuring the accuracy and consistency of reporting on the volume and/or quality of services provided. Other schemes ensure reliable reporting and confirm that patients who were reported to have received services actually received them, and still others choose to rely upon direct observation of the conditions of service delivery and actual care rather than on self-reporting. In some cases, countries have adopted a combination of these different approaches.
 
At present, recommending definitive best practice in verifying results linked to financial payments is difficult. To better understand verification, we undertook a rapid review of selected recent experiences and provide snapshots of four countries and several global health partnerships. These snapshots address why verification had been introduced and some minimal description of how the process was carried out, where, by whom, using what methods, and, with what effect.
 
This paper provides a preliminary collection of experiences with verification, in a diverse range of settings, under different financing mechanisms. The collection is intentionally indicative rather than exhaustive, and raises many questions that we plan to answer in subsequent stages of analysis.